The Geneva Convention
by Julie Ann Pope
Summary: Kate and Osgood attend a conference at UNIT HQ in Geneva.


The room itself was spacious, modern and clean. Minimal furniture, with touches of chrome and white paint made it seem bigger somehow. There were two single beds which dominated the centre of the room, thank goodness there hadn't been an additional surprise of a double instead! Kate dumped her rucksack on the farthest bed, closer to the window and left her small wheeled suitcase by the door. Osgood couldn't help but stand there staring, still unable to comprehend the last half an hour or so. It was usual for her to accompany her boss to important meetings and occasionally travel around the UK and abroad, sometimes staying overnight. That in itself hadn't been the problem. This time around, however, it transpired that they were one room short, the hotel full and so Kate had immediately offered to double up with Osgood. She'd reasoned that they would probably have the least amount of fuss about it and they worked closely together anyway. Kate was also keen to lead by example and she didn't like to ask her staff to do anything that she wasn't prepared to do herself and sometimes that meant making sacrifices. It wasn't that Kate was her boss, Osgood loved working under Kate and they had a wonderful working relationship. It was just complicated, she supposed.

* * *

They'd freshened up and changed for the evening soiree, dinner with their hosts. UNIT's central command was based in Geneva and Kate had been requested to attend an important meeting between the worldwide branches. About half a dozen of her most senior staff as well as herself and Osgood represented the United Kingdom. It wasn't often they all got together so the evening was mostly about talking shop and networking as far as possible. Osgood hadn't dressed quite as formally as Kate in her sparkly black evening dress but had put on a good pair of trousers, neatly ironed shirt and matching bow tie to impress as far as possible. She was tapped on the shoulder as she stood quietly observing the throng of personnel. Commander Jones was head of technology and weaponry at UNIT. A slim black man in his mid-forties, shiny bald head and a neat goatee beard and moustache on his face. She knew him well enough from meetings and the like but they didn't often have much course to converse outside of that.

"Can I buy you a drink?" He asked her, although it was clear from the tone of his voice that he was automatically expecting her to agree.

"No, I'm fine thanks." Osgood still had half a glass of wine left from earlier and she had no intention of drinking any more. Commander Jones let out a small huff of annoyance and changed the subject.

"So, you're bunking in with the boss then, eh?" The elbow nudge in her side suggested some lewd implication to his comment.

"There weren't enough rooms." Osgood reasoned politely enough.

"Yeah yeah, pull the other one. You do work _awfully closely_ with each other. The big old dyke probably did it deliberately just so she could make a move on you." Osgood objected to his language on several levels and looked him straight in the eye.

"Don't call her that!" She said it through gritted teeth to keep her words from being overheard but her tone was harsh and biting.

"Well, that's what she is, isn't she?" Kate hadn't been overt about her sexuality but she hadn't bothered to hide it either and was truthful if asked outright.

"Apart from the fact that her personal life has nothing to do with you anyway, you shouldn't be speaking about a colleague like that. Haven't you ever heard of diversity and equality?"

"You're quite defensive for someone who is _'just'_ a colleague; that's how rumours start don't you know?" Osgood watched as Commander Jones walked away in mild irritation at not getting any concrete information out of her. She knew that he was just annoyed that he didn't have a chance with Kate himself. She scanned the room with her eyes for Kate and found her chatting to her Scandinavian equivalent. She looked on and admired her boss from afar as Kate seemed to exude confidence and grace as her colleague appeared to hang on every word.

* * *

After the soiree Kate and Osgood retired to their room together. They chatted idly about the evening and the conference the next day as Kate swiped the key card allowing them to enter.

"I'm going to get ready for bed and brush my teeth first, if you don't mind?" Kate already had her heels in her hands and went to collect her night things.

"No, that's fine, go ahead." Osgood seemed edgy, nervous even but Kate thought no more of it until it was Osgood's turn to get ready for bed. At first she tried to delay the inevitable by saying that she was staying up to read but Kate knew there was more to it than that.

"Is this about what Commander Jones said to you earlier?" Kate said it matter of factly, as though she had been expecting it to be an issue at some point.

"How do you know about that?"

"Someone overheard. Don't worry, I'll be speaking to him when we get back to London." Kate looked directly at the younger woman. "Does sharing a room with me make you feel uncomfortable?" Kate sounded sad and Osgood was horrified at how her reluctance might have been perceived.

"No, not at all. Absolutely not, just the opposite actually." Kate was confused.

"Then why don't you want to get changed?" Osgood groaned in exaggerated frustration and then went all shy and embarrassed. She pulled out a set of bright pink pyjamas emblazoned with Peppa Pig motifs.

"My niece bought these for me for Christmas. I wasn't expecting to share with anyone so I thought it wouldn't matter." Kate stared at Osgood with her mouth agog for a few moments before she burst into hysterical laughter.

"Chuck them over here." Kate took a closer look at the offending articles. She had no idea they made something this lurid in adult sizes. After a few more guffaws, Kate calmed herself and looked back over at Osgood. "And that's it? The only reason why you were so reluctant to get ready for bed?" Osgood nodded and Kate chucked the pyjamas back to her companion. "I cannot wait to see what they look like on!"

They finally settled down for the night once Osgood had changed and brushed her teeth. The lights were off and it was silent save for the odd sound of the sheets rustling as the two women attempted to get comfortable.

"Kate…?" Osgood whispered to her boss in the darkness of the room. She was fairly certain that the older woman was still awake.

"Mmm hmm?"

"If you _were_ to make advances, hypothetically speaking of course, I wouldn't be offended. In fact, I might even be amenable." The nerves thrummed loudly in her ears and Osgood felt her heart almost beating out of her chest. Kate smirked in safety of the darkness but her voice conveyed her interest anyway.

"Is that so? We'll have to 'accidentally' share a room the next time we're out of London and see what happens won't we?"


End file.
